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We gradually walked out of the gym, and Xia Ying, Three Sisters, and Shuai Dong were waiting for me and A Fei at the entrance. "Wow!" I shouted as I high-fived each of them. A Fei smiled and greeted everyone before hurriedly running toward the school gate. I noticed Zhang Yirong's gaze lingering on A Fei's departing figure, looking a bit unnatural. "Yingying, I have something to take care of, so I'm leaving first," Zhang Yirong said as she ran outside. "Xia Ying, you came here alone?" I asked tentatively. "What do you mean by that, Xiang Jie? Are you saying that me and Rongrong aren't people?" Gu Mei Jiao interjected awkwardly. "Mei Jiao, please don't get upset; that's not what I meant," I quickly explained to Gu Mei Jiao. "Haha, fine then! Since you called me sister, I'll forgive you," Gu Mei Jiao replied proudly. "So what do you mean?" Xia Ying asked, taking over the conversation. I was at a loss for words: "Nothing... just ignore me; I had a moment of brain freeze." "Hmph!" Xia Ying scoffed. Sigh! I decided not to ask further to avoid any awkwardness.
We walked out of the school gate laughing and headed to the right. "Where are we going on this big weekend?" Shuai Dong asked. I thought for a moment: "Xia Ying, Mei Jiao, maybe you two shouldn't go together; it might be a bit... awkward for boys and girls to hang out." "Awkward? How so?" Xia Ying asked with wide eyes. Pang Hao suddenly chimed in, "A bit awkward." Gu Mei Jiao nodded in agreement, looking down at Xia Ying: "It really could be a bit awkward." Xia Ying seemed unconvinced: "Awkward? Come on! Let's go hiking; I want to exercise." I was surprised by Xia Ying's enthusiasm. "Ying Ge, I just finished exercising! You want me to go hiking right after a match? Are you trying to kill me?" I said with a bitter smile. "You barely played; how can a tall guy like you be so 'delicate'?" Xia Ying shot back fiercely. "Fine! If you want to go, let's go; who’s afraid?" I hated being called 'delicate,' and while I knew she was trying to provoke me, I had to admit... she succeeded.
"Hey, isn't that Rongrong up ahead? Didn't she say she had something to do? What is she doing here?" As we walked toward the bus stop, Xia Ying suddenly pointed ahead. "Oh? It really is her!" We saw Zhang Yirong sneaking a peek from behind some bushes in the green belt. I quietly approached and suddenly tapped Zhang Yirong on the shoulder: "Zhang Yirong!" "Ah!" Zhang Yirong screamed and turned around, placing her hand on her chest: "What are you doing, Xiang Jie?" "Haha! You were so focused hiding here; what are you up to?" I said while glancing at the flowers along the roadside toward the square. "So you're spying!" I saw A Fei and Sha Xiaomei whispering sweet nothings on a bench nearby. "Zhang Yirong, I'm going to have to criticize you now; how can you spy? That's very wrong..." I pretended to lecture her like a philosopher. "Shut up! I'm leaving!" Zhang Yirong blushed and stepped aside as we all looked over. Just then Pang Hao exclaimed: “Hey, Jie! Isn’t it wrong not to spy?” I almost fainted; this Pang Hao was really thick-headed. “Yu Qiuhai, this isn’t spying; it’s called watching openly—do you understand?” Shuai Dong added. “Stop looking; let’s go!” Xia Ying pulled us forward.
Once we got on the bus, we found it quite empty. I chose a window seat because I like watching the scenery outside. Suddenly turning my head back, I found Xia Ying sitting next to me, lost in her music with headphones on. My heart raced as my body became fidgety. Xia Ying noticed my unusual behavior and asked: “What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Hey... a boy acting like Lin Daiyu! Do you want me to lend you my music?” She took off her headphones and put them on my ears. The headphones played a song I'd never heard before but found very nice; the lyrics seemed to say: “Sunny or rainy, all I want is to chat with you; phone calls and letters aren’t direct enough. The gossip you like and thoughts about the future need to be whispered close enough to melt away... How I'd love to share secrets with you—one bite of an apple each; when I'm happy or sad, all I want is to be with you.” Listening to this song made my lips involuntarily curl into a smile—such pure and innocent love even made this single guy yearn for it.
Before long, we reached our destination. Xia Ying appeared exceptionally excited as she dragged Gu Mei Jiao and Zhang Yirong up the mountain while the three of us followed slowly behind them. “Hey! You three hurry up! Why are you dawdling?” Xia Ying shouted back at us. “Alright! Let’s race—boys vs girls! Losers treat dinner!” Shuai Dong challenged loudly. “Okay! Let’s do it!” Xia Ying responded defiantly as we all lined up at the starting line.
I raised my hand and shouted: “Ready... hey! Why are you three jumping ahead?” Xia Ying and her group had already taken off running while we hurriedly followed behind them in a frantic chase. Shuai Dong and I managed well enough but Pang Hao lagged behind; halfway through he bent over gasping for breath while we were both worried sick about him. “Pang Hao, take a break! We’ll catch up with them first!” Seeing Pang Hao nod weakly made us continue running ahead until we reached the top of the mountain where we found Xia Ying and Three Sisters resting with their hands on their hips. “You guys cheated; winning doesn’t count!” I plopped down on a large rock panting heavily as I spoke to them. “All is fair in war—you should know that! Winning is what matters!” Xia Ying replied from atop another rock. “Sisters, let’s get ready to run again!” She jumped down from the rock suddenly squealing before sitting down holding her ankle in pain. “Yingying! What happened?” Gu Mei Jiao and Zhang Yirong rushed over to support her as she tried taking a step but let out a cry of agony: “Oh no! I've twisted my ankle; it hurts so much.” “Haha! So does this mean dinner is on you guys tonight?” I said gleefully as I approached her. “Xiang Jie, stop joking around and help!” Zhang Yirong scolded me while rolling her eyes at my teasing remark.
I grumbled under my breath about how troublesome this was before bending down in front of Xia Ying: “Alright now, hop on my back; it's too high here for you.” “No need! I'll walk myself!” Xia Ying stubbornly took a step but nearly fell over again. “Enough already! Stop dragging your feet; get on or we'll be stuck here until dark—I still have matches later,” I urged her firmly. “Yeah, Yingying, just let him carry you,” Zhang Yirong encouraged her too as she hesitated until finally—I lifted her onto my back without warning and stood up to walk away with her perched there.
Ugh! Carrying this girl down the mountain was exhausting enough without adding insult to injury since Shuai Dong and Pang Hao were laughing behind us chatting away while beads of sweat began dripping down my face. “Xia Ying, how much do you weigh?” I turned my head back asking her curiously as she feigned nonchalance: “Between fifty and ninety-nine pounds—definitely two digits but not quite three.” Wow! That felt like nothing at all! This girl was clearly just messing with me again—I seriously wanted to throw her off the mountain but chatting like this helped distract me from feeling tired.
“Then how tall are you? Give me an accurate number,” I asked again as she laughed: “What do your usual estimates say?” Remembering seeing her stand next to Shuai Dong where she looked about half a head shorter than him made me guess: “Um... around 166 cm?” She confirmed cheerfully: “Correct! Great job there—didn't expect your judgment would be so spot-on!” “Of course! I'm known as China's Einstein...” We bantered back and forth until after some time when sweat drenched my back—I glanced at how far we still had left up the mountain realizing we were only halfway there: “Ugh! Why am I so unlucky?”
“If you're tired then take a break; don’t push yourself too hard—it’s heavy carrying someone uphill,” Xia Ying said concernedly which warmed my heart instantly despite carrying several dozen pounds on my back—I willingly did so again glancing back at Xia Ying who was staring off into space realizing how pretty she looked when quiet like this.
“By the way... Xia Ying, are you dating anyone?” I probed cautiously again hoping for more insight into her life choices as she snapped back defensively: “Who told you that? Spill it—who tarnished my reputation?” She seemed genuinely upset which surprised me further—“No one really; just guessing since I've seen how often you've rejected Ouyang lately so thought maybe there’s someone else.” Not daring mention Ouyang directly made me reply instead: “Not really... just don’t feel anything for him.”
Xia Ying laughed brightly saying: “Oh” making me feel warm inside realizing she too was just brushing Ouyang off casually.
After walking another twenty minutes or so we finally reached the roadside where once our bus arrived—I set Xia Ying down immediately collapsing into a seat breathing heavily while Shuai Dong looked at me disdainfully saying: “Jie—you’re supposed to be manly yet here whining after carrying one weak girl—how exaggerated!” This sarcasm felt light-hearted enough though—“Shi Zhidong classmate do you realize what kind of behavior that is? Clearly standing there talking nonsense without knowing what it feels like—next time try carrying forty kilograms uphill yourself see if you're still laughing!”
Xia Ying couldn’t hold back defending me against his remarks leading them into an argument that drew attention from many passengers aboard while sitting quietly beside them smiling inwardly despite feeling exhausted today—it truly felt wonderful having such fun...
The next school day when bumping into Xia Ying outside—I noticed she still walked slightly awkwardly—“Hey how's your foot? Still hurting?” casually asked which elicited an endearing smile from her: “It’s alright now—a little awkward still but thanks for carrying me yesterday.”
“You’re strange—you think of thanking me today after yesterday why didn’t say anything then?” Teasingly remarked causing her pout slightly saying: “I had intermittent amnesia—it happens!” Then walked toward school leaving me watching her retreating figure feeling subtly different about my feelings toward Xia Ying.
During noon training everyone seemed especially cheerful after winning against Sangyue—the atmosphere felt relaxed among teammates when Teacher Qiu entered announcing: “Tomorrow we're heading over Sangyue High School for an away game if we win—we’ll return after seven years into semifinals however if we lose there's still hope provided we only lose by five points or less—but please don’t think because having control means slacking off—we haven’t escaped danger yet—we could collapse anytime hence hope everyone approaches this match with determination.”
The outcome remained uncertain yet one thing was clear—the return of their Iron Tower Sun Yi would greatly influence our chances in this crucial game ahead.
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